Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: The Day I Became a God
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Hiroki not Takuya
 Posts: 2512 |
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rizuchan
 Posts: 974 Location: Kansas |
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After I complained about the comedy last week, I have to admit that I spit out my coffee this week when Yota thought that nobody could see Hina. (vague spoilers for various KEY titles) spoiler[Since Clannad, Summer Pockets, maybe even Air and Kanon, if I recall, all had plots where people gradually started forgetting spirit-like characters. It's like Maeda knows that his fans know he reuses plotlines... ] I certainly fell for it hook, line and sinker.
I do wonder if there are some cultural differences regarding Hina's abandonment though. Hina's dad's new wife knew about Hina's existence, yet still acted like Hina was a homewrecker when she realized she was actually there. But it seemed like the show was framing that in a sympathetic light - at least compared to a western show, which surely would have made her look outright villainous for reacting that way towards her stepdaughter. Anyway, I'm a little afraid now that, given how uh, derivative Maeda's works can be, the ending isn't too predictable. Although I'm thinking more like Yui in Angel Beats than Air... |
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Yuvelir
 Posts: 1545 |
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After that lovely fakeout, I hope the new implies conclusion is also a fakeout, becaue that's another overused and predictable plot. Not as fantastical, but still...
Also props to the dog's name. Sorry daddy, but that dog is Hina's now. |
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Hiroki not Takuya
Posts: 2512 |
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I would be interested in your take re:Yui as I never saw Angel Beats and the wiki synopsis doesn't give great detail. I would tend toward the term "formulaic" relative to Maeda's works though... |
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Stampeed Valkyrie
 Posts: 826 Location: PA |
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8 episodes in and it's still not going anywhere. only 4 more to go.
In order for Key to pull off it's typical feels, you need to have some vested interest in the characters.. 8 episodes of meh does not make me care about the characters, technically 7 episodes of meh, and one episode of what felt like someone exploring a mahjong fetish. I don't think Maeda's work translates to anime very well, with 12 episodes to tell a story and 3/4 going nowhere I don't have high hopes for the rest of this. More and more I think Angel Beats was a fluke, as nothing on the Anime Original side of Key/VA has come anywhere close since. |
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NeedMoreCats
 Subscriber Posts: 318 Location: Westchester, NY |
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The story seemed to imply that Hina’s mother committed suicide, and Hina’s brain function had deteriorated to the point where she was completely unable to move or communicate. At that point, her father—weak character—abandoned her rather than stay and watch her die. Presumable, he was emotionally devastated—maybe overwhelmed by grief, depression, guilt—when his new wife came along and helped him back to a place of mental health. So, the wife says “after I finally” got us through that dark period. And “I can’t go back” to that dark time when my husband was an emotional basket case if he has to watch his daughter waste away again? Anyway, that’s how I took it. |
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TarsTarkas
 Posts: 5823 Location: Virginia, United States |
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That sounds more realistic to me to. |
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Hiroki not Takuya
Posts: 2512 |
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^Well, we really don't know either way at the moment so any theory is equally valid. I just didn't think the wife's reaction meant Hina would/could be a "homewrecker" in the usual sense (unless her dad is also a massive lolicon)
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Ep9- Well I guess it was too obvious that the end of the world was metaphorical, so most of us caught it. Now the only question is if the gang (plus hacker-kun?) will mount some silly rescue, if Hina returns sans "godhood" with hacker-kun's help or if she just DIES. What's most frustrating is that what was supposed to be a big emotional moment left me not really caring. Too rushed? |
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Leviathonlx
Posts: 84 |
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Maeda is going to prove once again that he can't do a story in one cour. He spent too much time dicking around and then goes to shove the plot into a handful of episodes. I also don't buy this being the 'saddest anime ever' since this is going to have a really predictable ending.
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grooven
Posts: 1424 Location: Canada |
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I agree he spent way too much time early on goofing around and didn't give us enough plot early on. We barely got to see any side of Hina except in episode 8 and nothing about hacker dude early enough to care about his backstory. The same was for Yota's friends too. I think we should have just focused on making a movie with friends as a side plot to get to know the characters better and then focus on the real plot. Now again we are rushing. |
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tywhoppity
 Posts: 199 |
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Perhaps Maeda refers it as his "saddest story ever" as sad = sucks? I don't feel any empathy toward any of the characters, and I don't think there's enough time left to make me feel any.
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11340 |
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I'm not sure if this means you're still not sure if that was the intent, or if you only hoped that in the moment, but his declarations of eternal love seemed pretty straightforward to me as not simply familial. What struck me as bizarre about the whole thing was Hina's robotic lack of comprehension and emotion about what he was saying to her. She's not been presented up to now as a Data-esque android who can't understand human feelings, and has shown her own feelings of playfulness, affection, and jealousy in abundance, so why is she suddenly so dense and coldly logical? This was a separate issue from her resigned acceptance of her situation. She simply couldn't fathom why he cared about her at all. If she was merely feigning indifference to somehow spare him worrying about her or something, that's not going to salvage things, because she knows him well enough by now to know that wouldn't help him. I was also irritated by how long it took the corporate faction to put 2 + 2 together and get Hina. Especially our super-mathlete/hacker Suzuki, who had all the pieces in his hands and knew his targets almost intimately. It wasn't just that it made him look stupid that annoyed me. It was Maeda thinking he could get away with milking some extra slow-reveal drama out of something so blatantly obvious, because he sees his viewers as being as obtuse as he made Suzuki suddenly become. Beyond all that, like Nick, I was entirely unmoved when the hammer fell. It wasn't only that it seemed so utterly far-fetched and ridiculous (not the brain computer, the world governments' reaction to it). I'm not actually sure why it fell so flat with me, since this is the sort of angsty crap I usually eat up with a spoon while sobbing into the bowl. Like Hina herself, I just felt nothing (aside from the aforementioned irritation). As easy as I am to crack for stories like this, their failure at such a simple task is the only tragedy I can see in this. Maeda, you had one job... |
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stilldemented
 Posts: 232 |
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Eh. I feel like we're a little guilty of letting Maeda's work precede him. I watched episode 9 and wasn't really left with the impression that the story was attempting to tug at heartstrings or anything along those lines. Sure, I guess you could say that there's something of a tragic backstory for the hacker kid and Hina being abducted is emotional for Yota, but I don't believe those scenes are made to do anything other than serve as a highlight reel to how the beginning of the end is set in motion.
A lot of this story revolves around an inevitability looming in the not-too-distant future and making the most out of life until judgment day arrives. Weirdly enough, I don't believe this show is really expecting anyone to angst as they've told us what to expect from the beginning. I feel the main goal was to paint the hacker in a different light to showcase he's a misunderstood twerp more so than a supervillain, and how his actions and personal faults paved the way to prophecy. If I had to put an emotion behind episode 9, the closest one I'd come to would be the feeling of resignation. Didn't get the impression that Yota was confessing to Hina or anything like that either. It struck me as telling a loved one that you love them more so than a love confession to a love interest. Yota even expands on it by saying that it isn't just him that loves Hina but all of them to try and emphasize that. But I could be wrong. Time will tell. But it'd be kinda weird for him to be crushing on Izanami all this time and then flip that script. Not that it doesn't happen in anime (it happens pretty often), but I didn't feel that was the intention. Either way, we're entering the climax. If I had to guess, I figure that the crew will find a way to save Hina from the corporation but Hina will probably still die due to her illness. I think her death is set in stone to where it can't be avoided. Or maybe not. God only knows. XP. |
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rizuchan
Posts: 974 Location: Kansas |
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Angel Beats Spoilers: spoiler[Yui, a hyperactive, guitar-playing, baseball-loving girl was actually a bed bound quadriplegic when she was alive. When Hinata finds out, he promises to love her and take care of her the way she is. Then it shows a sort of hypothetical scenario where Hinata is able to meet Yui while they are alive by accidentally hitting a baseball through her window, then he falls in love her and takes care of her for the rest of her life.] But yeah, while I liked this episode better than some of the previous, I'm really wishing Maeda would go back to writing visual novels. Angel Beats is starting to feel like a one-hit wonder on the anime front, and the Rewrite and Summer Pockets visual novels were sorely missing his writing. |
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Yuvelir
Posts: 1545 |
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I'm more bothered by the adult side. The stone-faced CEO says all they do is "for the good", as opposed to what Suzuki's parents were doing, and the MiB thug says that the CEO was showing affection and that Suzuki is misunderstanding.
Were we supposed to believe that? Because actions speak louder than words, and every single action taken by any adult in this episode has perfectly mirrored Suzukis' parents in their selfishness, cowardice and entitlement. |
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